Social Cognitive Theory

1. "Two major factors influencing the likelihood that one will take preventive action:

First, like the Health Belief Model, a person must believe that the benefits of performing the behavior outweigh the costs (i.e. a person should have more positive than negative outcome expectancies)

Second, and perhaps most important, the person must have a sense of personal agency, or self-efficacy with respect to performing the preventive behaviour....must believe that he or she has the skills and abilities necessary for performing the behavior under a variety of circumstances."

2. Social Cognitive Theory defines human behavior as a triadic, dynamic, and reciprocal interaction of personal factors, behaviour, and the environment. According to this theory, an individual's behaviour is uniquely determined by each of these three factors. While Social Cognitive Theory upholds the behaviourist notion that response consequences mediate behaviour, it contends that behaviour is largely regulated antecedently through cognitive processes. Therefore, response consequences of a behaviour are used to form expectations of behavioural outcomes. It is the ability to form these expectations that give humans the capability to predict the outcomes of their behaviour, before the behaviour is performed. In addition, Social Cognitive Theory posits that most behaviour is learned vicariously.

Social Cognitive Theory's strong emphasis on one's cognitions suggests that the mind is an active force that constructs one's reality, selectively encodes information, performs behaviour on the basis of values and expectations, and imposes structure on its own actions. Through feedback and reciprocity, a person's own reality is formed by the interaction of the environment and one's cognitions. In addition, cognitions change over time as a function of maturation and experience (i.e. attention span, memory, ability to form symbols, reasoning skills). It is through an understanding of the processes involved in one's construction of reality that enables human behaviour to be understood, predicted, and changed.

3. In the early 1960's, when many learning and instruction theories were being developed, Albert Bandura and his researchers recognised that many overlooked an important aspect of learning, the observation of others. From this analysis began the social-cognitive theory.

Many cognitive theories assume that learning results from interaction with the environment. However, Bandura points to this as an incomplete cycle. In addition to the learner and the environment, Bandura adds the learners internal events which influence their perceptions and actions. This three-way relationship is described as reciprocal determination.

Through the observations of models, an individual's perceptions and actions influence their cognitive development. There are three types of models, live (family members, teachers, peers, etc.), iconic or symbolic (pictorial representations of behavio r), and text or verbal instructions (non-performance models). Responsiveness to these models may depend on several of characteristics. Attention and responsiveness of the learner may be influenced by the model's believability and credibility. Performance models utilise appearance, speech, age, expertise, and status. In addition, models may offer a reward of intrinsic value. This reward acts as a direct reinforcement. However, when the model is rewarded, the learner experiences vicarious reinforcement.

Models, their characteristics; learners, attentiveness and responsivenessand rewards, direct and vicarious; comprise only two of the factors which effect cognitive development. The final factor, which completes the cycle, is the learners' sense of self-efficacy. This is the learners' belief that they can execute complex skills successfully. This perception often provides the learner with an ability of self-direction. When this is true, learners will often seek out activities which reinforce their efficacy, avoiding those that do not.

Unlike other cognitive development theories, the social-cognitive theory incorporates a complex, three-way relationship between learners, their environment, and their self-regulating process of efficacy. Through the use of models which influence the learner's self-systems, cognitive development becomes an interdependent process of observational learning.